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Common Interview Questions and Responses

The Ultimate Guide to Job Interview Answers” outlines specific answers to some of the most commonly asked interview questions. Listed below are ten of the most common questions you may face.

Great, you have your first interview! Now you must be prepared with answers to some of the questions you may face. Below are some of the most common questions.

1- Tell me about yourself.
This is probably the most asked question in an interview. It breaks the ice and gets you to talk about something you should be comfortable with. Have something prepared that does not sound rehearsed. It is not about you telling your life story and frankly, the interviewer just is not interested. Unless asked to do so, stick to your education, career and current situation.

2- Why are you looking for another job (or why did you leave your previous job)?
On the surface, this appears to be a simple question, yet it is easy to slip. I would suggest not mentioning money at this stage as you may come across as totally mercenary. If you are currently in employment, you can say it is about developing your career and yourself as an individual

3- What do you know about this organization?
Do your homework prior to the interview. Doing the background work will help you stand out. Find out who the main players are, have they been in the news recently? You are not expected to know every date and individual yet you need to have a solid understanding of the company as a whole.

4- Why do you want this job?
This question typically follows on from the previous one. Here is where your research will come in handy. You may want to say that you want to work for a company that is x, y, z, (market leader, innovator, provides a vital service, whatever it may be

5- Who are our main competitors?
This shows you really understand the industry and the main players. Think about a few and say how you think they compare; similarities, differences. This is a good opportunity to highlight what you think are the company’s key strengths.

6- What would your previous co-workers say about you?
This is not the arena for full disclosure. You want to stay positive and add a few specific statements or paraphrase. Something like “Joe Blogs always mentioned how reliable and hard working I was” is enough.

7- How do you handle stressful situations and working under pressure?
There are several ways of addressing this one. You may be the sort of person that works well under pressure; you may even thrive under pressure. Whatever the case may be just make sure you do not say you panic. You want to give specific examples of stressful situations and how well you dealt with them.

8- Are you applying for other jobs?
If you are serious about changing jobs then it is likely that you are applying to other positions. It is also a way of showing that you are in demand. Be honest but do not go into too much detail, you do not want to spend a great deal of time on this. If asked about names of whom you have spoken to it is absolutely legitimate to say you prefer not to disclose that information at this stage.

9- What are you like working in a team?
Your answer is of course that you are an excellent team player; there really is no other valid answer here, as you will not function in an organization as a loner. You may want to mention what type of role you tend to adopt in a team, especially if you want to emphasis key skills such as leadership. Be prepared to give specific examples in a very matter of fact sort of way.

10- What sort of person do you not like to work with?
This is not an easy one, as you have no idea whom you would be working with. Even if you can immediately think of a long list of people you do not like to work with, you could take some time to think and say that it is a difficult question as you have always gotten on fine with your colleagues.

Go to www.TADPGS.com to view our job openings and join our LinkedIn group, Veterans Hiring Solutions for Veterans and Companies at http://linkd.in/Sg346w. If you have specific questions about issues affecting you, your benefits, your dependents etc., feel free to send them to me personally at Ben.Marich@Adeccona.com, and I will try to help you. If you have questions about compensation and disability benefits or VA health care benefits, ask the First Sergeant at randymayer7@hotmail.com.